ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Novel genetic patterns may make us rethink biology and individuality
• Artificial heart to pump human waste into future robots
• White-lipped peccary trails lead to archeological discovery in Brazil: 4,000- to 10,000-year-old cave drawings
• Exploring public perceptions of future wearable computing
• Wireless device converts 'lost' energy into electric power: Metamaterial cells provide electric power as efficiently as solar panels
• Unique sighting of lava solves mystery
• The Tao of pee: The science behind urination
• 'Freakish' asteroid discovered, resembles rotating lawn sprinkler
• One worm, two mouths
• DNA software identifies people by testing relatives' DNA
• Hearing through sight: Brain plasticity and why cochlear implants work better for some people than others
• Ants, like humans, can change their priorities
• Saddling up against the threat to our National Parks
• New light on dark energy, cosmic speed-up: Big Bang afterglow shows Earth has no special place in expanding universe
• Study shows trustworthy people perceived to look similar to ourselves
• Organizing programmed nanoparticles into highly complex nanostructures
• 'Diabetic flies' can speed up disease-fighting research

Novel genetic patterns may make us rethink biology and individuality Posted: 07 Nov 2013 05:42 PM PST Scientists have made two novel discoveries: 1) a person can have several DNA mutations in parts of their body, with their original DNA in the rest -- resulting in several different genotypes in one individual -- and 2) some of the same genetic mutations occur in unrelated people. We think of each person's DNA as unique, but if a person can have more than one genotype, this may have broad implications.

Artificial heart to pump human waste into future robots Posted: 07 Nov 2013 05:42 PM PST A new device capable of pumping human waste into the "engine room" of a self-sustaining robot has been created by a group of researchers.

White-lipped peccary trails lead to archeological discovery in Brazil: 4,000- to 10,000-year-old cave drawings Posted: 07 Nov 2013 01:23 PM PST While tracking white-lipped peccaries and gathering environmental data in forests that link Brazil's Pantanal and Cerrado biomes, researchers discovered ancient cave drawings made by hunter-gatherer societies thousands of years ago.

Exploring public perceptions of future wearable computing Posted: 07 Nov 2013 01:21 PM PST As scientists develop the next wave of smartwatches and other wearable computing, they might want to continue focusing their attention on the arms and the wrists. According to a recent study, portable electronic devices placed on the collar, torso, waist or pants may cause awkwardness, embarrassment or strange looks.

Wireless device converts 'lost' energy into electric power: Metamaterial cells provide electric power as efficiently as solar panels Posted: 07 Nov 2013 12:48 PM PST Using inexpensive materials configured and tuned to capture microwave signals, researchers have designed a power-harvesting device with efficiency similar to that of modern solar panels.

Unique sighting of lava solves mystery Posted: 07 Nov 2013 10:27 AM PST Scientists have made the first ever observations of how a rare type of lava continues moving almost a year after a volcanic eruption.

The Tao of pee: The science behind urination Posted: 07 Nov 2013 10:26 AM PST Although we don't often think about it, fluid dynamics touches almost every aspect of our lives, from a billowing breeze that buffets a flag, to swirling river currents that shape canyons to the surging blood that sustains our lives. One of the basest of bodily functions -- urination -- is governed primarily by the equations of fluid motion.

'Freakish' asteroid discovered, resembles rotating lawn sprinkler Posted: 07 Nov 2013 09:31 AM PST Astronomers report the discovery of a never-before-seen "weird and freakish object" in the asteroid belt that resembles a rotating lawn sprinkler.

One worm, two mouths Posted: 07 Nov 2013 09:31 AM PST Depending on the environment in which the worm grows, the larva of the roundworm Pristionchus pacificus develops into either a wide-mouthed predator or a narrow-mouthed bacteria eater. A team of researchers has now discovered a developmental biological switch that determines the worm's mouth form.

DNA software identifies people by testing relatives' DNA Posted: 07 Nov 2013 09:29 AM PST New software is able to identify people from their relatives' DNA. The software has already been used to identify the victims – the majority of whom were Dutch – of the 2010 Tripoli airplane crash, and in 2012 to find out who had murdered a young Dutch woman, Marianne Vaatstra, in 1999.

Hearing through sight: Brain plasticity and why cochlear implants work better for some people than others Posted: 07 Nov 2013 07:35 AM PST Cochlear implants allow adults who have become profoundly deaf to recover the ability to understand speech. However, recovery differs between individuals. Activating the visual regions of the brain has proved essential to the satisfactory recovery of hearing, according to a new study.

Ants, like humans, can change their priorities Posted: 07 Nov 2013 07:34 AM PST For the first time, researchers have discovered that at least in ants, animals can change their decision-making strategies based on experience. They can also use that experience to weigh different options.

Saddling up against the threat to our National Parks Posted: 07 Nov 2013 06:47 AM PST An Australian research team has investigated the threat horse riding poses to the ecology of national parks around the world. And it seems there's a growing problem in horse dung.

New light on dark energy, cosmic speed-up: Big Bang afterglow shows Earth has no special place in expanding universe Posted: 07 Nov 2013 06:46 AM PST Astronomers have ruled out a controversial theory that the accelerating expansion of the universe is an illusion. While the findings don't explain the cosmic speed-up, they eliminate one provocative possibility that our planet, solar system and galaxy are at the center of the universe and that there is no dark energy.

Study shows trustworthy people perceived to look similar to ourselves Posted: 07 Nov 2013 06:44 AM PST When a person is deemed trustworthy, we perceive that person's face to be more similar to our own, according to a new study.

Organizing programmed nanoparticles into highly complex nanostructures Posted: 07 Nov 2013 06:40 AM PST A new principle for the self-assembly of patterned nanoparticles may have important implications for nanotechnology and future technologies.

'Diabetic flies' can speed up disease-fighting research Posted: 06 Nov 2013 05:22 PM PST In a finding that has the potential to significantly speed up diabetes research, scientists have discovered that fruit flies respond to insulin at the cellular level much like humans do, making these common, easily bred insects good subjects for laboratory experiments in new treatments for diabetes.

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